Posts Tagged “AC Newman”

Sep 19 2007

The New Pornographers 2007-09-17, The Warfield

Posted by: dave in concert, tags: AC Newman, Dan Bejar, Neko Case, New Pornographers, The Warfield

Oh, what to say about this show? There’s really very little that I can do that doesn’t just sound silly. The New Pornographers as a whole are perhaps just way too much for one single stage. I’m very glad this was my first New Pornos show, mostly because it was a FULL band show. I know that in the past Dan hasn’t toured with them all the time, and Neko hasn’t either. (and other various band members maybe not either, but those two get the most attention). This time, they were all around and I couldn’t be happier. For quite a while I considered this band to be “oh that band that Neko Case did a few songs for their albums” and I listened to the songs she was featured on almost exclusively.

I was very wrong for that, and it took me a couple albums to realize that.

Now, if I’d said ‘that band Dan Bejar sometimes does things with’, I’d have been in the clear. One of the oddest things (I think at least) was the fact that Dan doesn’t really hang out with the band on stage. He comes out for “his” songs, and then he retreats to backstage somewhere, I guess to get smashingly drunk or to do yoga or maybe he was just reallyreally interested in watching SportsCenter or something, I really don’t know. Regardless it was kinda odd. Meanwhile, for all the rumors of her being a diva, Neko Case stuck around the entire show and when she wasn’t singing she was playing with a tambourine and still providing backing vocals. That’s a real Band Member right there, especially on the backing vocals i think, since Kathryn is more than capable of doing the backing vocals.

Regardless, this was one of the most excellent concerts I’ve ever seen. I think the triple threat of this band with the three different lead vocalists (and authors I suppose) really keeps the show a little mixed up and chaotic, which is highly appropriate considering there are sooooooo many people on stage during the show. Neko’s voice was perfect, Dan seemed into the show (for whatever he was around for) and Carl seemed to be a little nervous about headlining a deceptively large venue (the Warfield is big, but it really just looks huge since that balcony is tilted at an odd angle) but pretty eager to give everyone what they came for. No disappointment here! They ripped through an amazing setlist of songs from all of their albums (none of this “hey, we’ve got a new album out we’d appreciate it if you’d buy it so here’s all the songs from the new album and maybe a couple of older songs in the encore” crap, YES I’M LOOKING AT YOU RILO KILEY), I’m sure nobody who’s a fan of this band went away disappointed. If you like the first two albums, you’re covered. If you like their newest stuff, it’s there in full force. Neko, Dan, Carl, everything full speed ahead. And despite being in a University of Phoenix commercial, The Bleeding Heart show is probably still my favorite New Pornographers track ever, and I’m absolutely thrilled they played it at the end of their main set. To me, it’s the most representative track of theirs, that really shows off the entire band at the same time. Completely chaotic, multi-part harmony sing-along stuff, Very Awesome. (and as an aside, why do people mind it being in commercials? Every time I hear the commercial, the song pops into my head and I really like that! Commercial message aside, I have no IDEA what the commercial is about since my brain blanks and just starts running the rest of the song once the spot is over. Anyway.)

If you have a chance to see this band on the rest of their tour or any time in the future when it’s a full show with the whole band, DO IT. There wasn’t a single moment of disappointment for me at all, and that’s a rare thing at shows these days for me. I can get cynical about any show usually or at least find something to pick apart or make it seem less than the 90 minutes of awesome that it could have been, but The New Pornographers do not disappoint at all. (of course I’m sure the Professional Critics can find plenty to take away from the show, since Hate is the new Love, but sometimes you really just have to enjoy things for what they are, you know?)

setlist: